How would you describe your experience on Top Chef Masters?
It was a really nice gig. More than two weeks of going to bed late and waking up early. You cook, you taste, you serve, you do everything. Nobody’s there to help you, you have to figure it out yourself. I love my fellow chefs, their energy and the adrenaline. The thing with that kitchen is it had all these plastic mats and I almost tripped a few times, so I took off my shoes. And of course, they made fun of me. But it’s a competition. All I cared about was what’s on the plate.

Did you stay in touch with anyone?
I was invited to Louisiana, along with Tom Colicchio (head judge of Top Chef) and Rick Moonen (fellow contestant) because of the oil spill. They took us out to see how bad the spill was, and to learn about the fishermen and how tough it is to be in their trade. I was very sad. I thought to myself, how is that part of the world going to be able to regenerate seafood? It’s important as a chef to have a voice out there. To say it’s safe to eat West Coast but not to eat East Coast.

What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever put in your mouth?
Back in Hong Kong, my elder sister (she’s like my mother) said “I’d like to take you for hot pot,” and this was the middle of summer. She told me not to worry as there’s a huge air conditioning unit. So I went. She plopped this little round thing (it looked like a quail egg) on my plate and told me to put a little sauce on it. I scooped it up, put it in my mouth and when I bit into it, it burst; all these tiny, tiny little eggs like fish roe exploded in my mouth. After I finished, I asked, “What the hell was that?” She said “Oh, that’s a chicken testicle.” The funny thing is that if she’d actually told me that it was a testicle, I would have tried it anyway.

Your long hair is one of your trademarks. Have you ever cut it?
I’ve only ever cut my hair once and it was because of my mother. She came to visit me in Toronto, and really wanted to see me exactly the same way I looked before I left Hong Kong. Of course, I had very short hair back then, I was a punk. So I cut it, and it looked like shit. I wore a hat until my hair grew out and I promised myself to never do it again.

Are you training your kids to cook?
Actually, my middle son likes to cook very much. It’s so nice to see your son enjoy doing what you’re doing. Sometimes you think, what does he know about taste? But he’s got such good taste buds, this makes me so happy. I told him, “You’ve got bad marks in school, no problem. Just as long as you’ve got good taste, you’re good in my book.”

Check out our restaurant review of Chinois by Susur Lee